Serious car accident involving two local musicians puts one's new record back to square one

Not long after putting on a great show with her band The Seedy Seeds at the first-ever Bunbury Music Festival, the group’s Margaret Darling and friend (and equally gifted singer/songwriter) Jason Wells of Indie group for algernon were involved in a serious auto accident that has required not only some time away from music to recuperate (both suffered painful injuries; Wells says Darling suffered the worst of it, fracturing a rib), but also a gutting of their bank accounts to pay for treatment and recovery time. That’s on top of a totaled car and destroyed instruments. Both are expected to fully recover physically, but it will take some time still.After being screwed by insurance companies, Wells had to use all of the cash he had stashed away to record the next for algernon album. As a result, Wells started a Kickstarter campaign so that he could get back to work on his project as soon as possible. In an email, I could sense Wells was very reluctant to ask for help; it’s a sense of pride thing a lot of musicians (and humans) have. But in the Greater Cincinnati music scene, those who need help should never be embarrassed to ask. It’s part of the reason we (the fans) are here — you ladies and gents gives us the sweet gift of music and often enhance our lives greatly. It’s the least we can do to return the favor when you need us. (Don't be shocked if a benefit show pops up in the near future; I'm already hearing rumblings.)In that spirit, be sure to visit Wells' Kickstarter.com page here and kick in whatever you can. You can also visit facebook.com/theseedyseeds and send your best wishes to Margaret. For more on for algernon, visit www.foralgernon.com. Here are some tasty tunes by Wells and Co. to sample:

Hit up MPMF.com for all of the
last-second news about the 10th MidPoint Music Festival (running
Thursday-Saturday in venues throughout Over-the-Rhine and Downtown). If
you missed it when it appeared in CityBeat a couple of weeks
ago, copies of the official MPMF Guide — with write-ups on all 180-plus
acts and full fest details — will be plentiful at the event. Here are some new developments.

And so it begins. The next few weeks are loaded with "special" shows by local performers. Many have a holiday theme (that's right, I said "holiday," you intolerant Christmas warrior), but there are also plenty of gigs celebrating things other than the season (that'll end with the following three weeks of non-stop holiday madness). Let's check them out.

Local singer/songwriter Josh Eagle is preparing to release his latest album (and first with his excellent band The Harvest City) Sunday with an unique, early-start CD release party at the 20th Century Theater in Oakley. Plus news about a new album from For Algernon's Jason Wells, a documentary about the late bluesman Phil Blank, WNKU events surrounding its 25th birthday and Hands Across Basements.